3 Mistakes Businesses Make With Their Google Listings

Whether you’re a small local business or a large corporation, keeping your Google My Business listing up to date is extremely important. It’s a reflection of your company and the first thing someone sees when they search for your business. So you should keep it clean, accurate and 100 percent complete.

However, there are many mistakes businesses make with their listings, sometimes causing confusion about the company, potentially harming SEO and even damaging established trust. These are the most common mistakes businesses make with their Google My Business page:

Not Responding to Good and Bad Reviews

Gone are the days where responding to bad reviews was the only thing you had to worry about. Good reviews need some love, too. In fact, responding to reviews on your Google My Business page (and other local listings) in a timely manner shows that you care about your customers and what people think of your business. Responding to bad reviews shows that you want to make it right and responding to positive reviews shows that you appreciate the feedback.

Good reviews can be rewarded with a simple “Thank you” message, while bad reviews may take a little more work. Regardless of any situation, responding is the best thing you can do. You may consider offering something to the customer who had a bad experience or simply asking them to send a detailed message to an email so you can work through the problem with them. Responsiveness and sincerity go a long way.

Having Photos That Don’t Accurately Reflect Your Business

Having no photos at all can really hurt your listing, but having low-quality images or photos that don’t represent your brand at all can be even worse. These photos attached to your Google listing are often the first impression of your business. You’ll probably want to avoid uncleanliness, photos of construction sites in the background, and anything unrelated to your brand. Of course, sometimes this is unavoidable. Anyone can post a photo to your company listing. It’s up to you to monitor what gets posted and to add high-quality photography that best represents your business so it outshines any misrepresenting photos.

You Have Crucial Information Missing or Incorrect

The more complete your Google listing is, the better. To get discovered in today's search results, having an accurate and optimized Google My Business listing is important. More importantly, you want to keep your business details accurate. Address, phone number, and categories should be up to date and consistent with information on your website and across the web.

Your business may update phone numbers or move. Be sure to keep those details current so your customers know how to contact you and where to find you.